“Heart of the Gun” is the 2021 release written and directed by Travis Mills, the director with a knack for making Western movies like “The Wilderness Road,” “The Adventures of Bandit and Wild,” and “The Woman Who Robbed the Stagecoach.” With his latest flick, Travis Mills brings forth the story of “Travers,” aka Jack, who has spent years scouring the desert for his missing wife, and he believes he has found her, but it turns out he was mistaken—or was he? Jack Travers brilliantly walks in the shoes of John Mars alongside his confidante Sarah, played by Amber Rose Mason, and the determined tracker, John White, played by Jay Pickett.
Spoilers Ahead
‘Heart Of The Gun’ Plot Synopsis: What Happens In The Movie?
The movie kicks off on a stormy evening, and the audience sees the protagonist, Travers, walking through dozens of corpses. However, one of them had managed to survive—a woman so soaked in blood and frail as twigs that she won’t be able to move for a couple of days. The fire robbed her of most of her possessions, except for the torn clothes she had on herself. Travers followed a saddled horse running loose, which eventually led him to Sarah. Sarah’s entourage was attacked by a group of Apaches, who raided her camp and murdered everyone. Travers introduces himself as a doctor practicing medicine and offers to clean and bandage her wound, but she politely turns him down, saying she’ll do it herself, so he offers her some bandages and food to recuperate. Sarah was heading west, and that’s when she met a group of men who were heading in the same direction. Travers, on the other hand, is riding towards the north, towards the basin, and has been scouring the desert heat, looking for his wife. Travers has trouble sleeping, is often haunted by nightmares, and utters, “It won’t be long,” in his sleep. He’s the kind to grieve alone and hesitant to share the details of his past, but solicitous at the same time, offering Sarah to bury her entourage, and then again lost for words to express his condolences to the departed. And the duo ride together. What follows next is a gloomy romance unfolding in the desert heat while the two look for the missing woman.
Tragic Fate Of Sarah’s Entourage
Sarah and Travers encounter a group of strange men who introduce themselves as miners, mining the mountains for gold. They have never seen Travers in the area but have encountered Sarah once or twice. To avoid any ensuing conflict, the duo decides to tag along with the miners. One of the miners has heard the duo conversing about Apaches and has heard their side of the story, including how they cut off his scalp. Apaches and Native Americans cut the scalp of the fallen or the defeated so they could be anointed as a warrior in the clan. And since Sarah has her scalp intact, it is highly unlikely that her entourage had been attacked by Native Americans. In reality, these miners are the same men who attacked Sarah’s envoy. Sarah was traveling with her friend Billy, who had gone to free the horses stuck in the mud, or else there would be hell where they died. Billy was having a hard time moving the horses and was helped by a couple of men who assisted Billy in driving the horse out of the mud. The entourage was helpful and cooked dinner to repay their generosity, but they later woke up with guns to their faces. The men began shooting people without any reason, just so they could strike fear in their hearts. They murdered the men and raped and killed the woman; fortunately, Sarah managed to survive, but not before she was violated. The account of the tragic night infuriates Travers, and he decides to murder them all. In the morning, one of the men again tries to have their way with her, and Sarah chops his arm off his shoulders, and Travers murders the rest, ending their murderous spree. Travers forces Sarah to have her revenge and kill the man who’s raped her; however, Sarah denies and calls Travers by his real name; Jack; prompting him to part ways with the woman he had saved.
Jay White Tracking A Mysterious Someone
Sarah comes across a group of law enforcement officials while strolling alone in the desert heat. She reveals that she’s forced to travel alone because her companions were murdered by a couple of men. Jay asks about the murders that happened yesterday morning, but Sarah denies having any knowledge of the case. Jay White is a brilliant tracker and has been chasing a mysterious deserter for quite a while now. Jay is intuitive and realizes that Sarah here knows more than she’s putting on the table, so he decides to accompany her on her journey to Payson. Jay White had been tracking Apaches for the army for years and mistook Sarah for Travers’ wife, who goes by Abigail. Travers was dishonorably discharged from the army, became a deserter, and has been on the run ever since. Jay questions her on Travers’ whereabouts and learns that he has traveled north toward Payson. Jay harbors no tolerance for deserters and believes that the only place they belong is at the end of the rope. Sarah had a sordid history and turned to immoral ways to make ends meet after she left her husband. With dusk falling, the duo decides to call it a day and book a room in a nearby town. Sarah sneaks out during the night to journey alone and learns from one of her old customers that Travers had been staying in the same town. Travers isn’t afraid of dying and appears ready to welcome death anytime with an open heart, and he doesn’t even react even when a gun is pointed at his face.
Jay catches up to Travers and saves him from the one-handed miner that managed to escape. Sarah helps Travers escape, but the latter is shot and wounded in the process. Sarah learns from an old couple that the wilderness houses a place that is often wanted because of the need for a place to hide. Sarah takes Travers there and tends to his wounds. Both Sarah and Abigail shared a similar heavy resemblance and coincidentally chanted the same song, causing the latter to sometimes confuse her for his wife, Abigail. The old couple also provided Sarah with a gun as they were leaving in the morning.
‘Heart Of The Gun’ Ending Explained – Why Did Travers’ Wife Leave Him?
Travers is growing weaker with every mile; fortunately, the duo is offered help by a Native American woman who claims to know Travers. Back in the past, while Travers was employed in the army, he had saved the woman from his comrades who were hunting Apaches in the area. He had tended to the lady’s wounds and helped her deliver her baby. Travers’ woman had left him a note, advising him never to come looking for her, but he chose otherwise. Sarah reveals to Travers that he might’ve seen his wife while she was working at a salon and leads him to a man who has been abducting women to sell their bodies for profit. Sarah had also been abducted, and maybe Abigail, too, had fallen victim to the same. Travers had earlier received a letter from his wife suggesting that she was leaving him after she found a telegram from a physician in Dallas saying that it was Jack’s body that had been a hindrance in his wish to conceive a child. Abigail felt betrayed, as she had spent years at war with her body, wanting a child with him. Travers couldn’t tell Sarah the truth because he was ashamed and too weak to confront his real self.
Sarah leads Travers to a man who has lived with Abigail for a while. The man directs Travers to the hill, saying he’ll find what he’s looking for there. Travers walks toward the hill and learns that his wife, the woman he has been looking for all around, has died. But is Abigail really dead? Yes, in a way. Abigail died and was reborn as Sarah, and the woman Travers had been looking at all around the wilderness was riding alongside him. After leaving Travers, Abigail skipped town and started earning her living as Sarah or Scarlet. White catches up to Travers, and Abigail begs him to spare his life so they can live in peace, and she promises never to hurt a single soul. But White can’t come to terms with his principles and rules and is wounded by Abigail, giving the duo ample time to escape the wilderness and live together as one.
“Heart of the Gun” is enjoyable for a one-time watch, but many won’t dare to venture past that. The film also shows how the troops discriminated against and hunted Native Americans. In one of the scenes, they’re referred to as having no creed and no god to speak of. They’re cruel and vile and will just as soon kill a woman as a man or cut down a child like they’re slaughtering a hog. They are labeled as degenerates with no decency in their eyes, which are created just to be thorns on everyone’s side. But this isn’t true; as we see, Jack himself was saved by an Indian woman.
“Heart of the Gun” is a 2021 western action thriller film directed by Travis Mills.
